I reworked the diet a bit and changed the exercise to 5 days per week.

And I’ve crossed the second major goal of this effort some time last week.

Since January 2022, I’m down 101 pounds, as of today. That’s 6.3 pounds per month.

I also dropped another trouser size. I now have one pair of jeans that fit. I literally cleared my closet of everything that no longer fits. That was a strange measure of satisfaction.

By definition, a smith machine does not permit proper motion. Damned dangerous things.

These days, I do Pilates, and swim in the ocean.

(I still cannot float in fresh water - haven’t been able to since I was about 17.)

Frankly, for almost all people who aren’t athletes/especially say over 55 - body weight and dumbbells should pretty much do it.

Barring outright stupidity, it’s hard to be injured by dumbbell clean and press, and it’s an excellent exercise.

quote:

I reworked the diet a bit

How did you change it?

FWIW, diet is the key not exercise -not saying there is no benefit - only that diet is much more effective than exercise.

I know we have had this debate before and many subscribe that cals in vs cals out is the only way.
The cals-counting method is only partially effective.

If you really want to change your BMI then train your body to use fat as a primary fuel.
To do this a KETO or similar low CARB diet is very, very effective AND healthy.

The metabolic process is substantially more complicated than just cal counting.

Once you understand the low-carb religion then you will say "why didn't I do this before?".

Nevertheless, kudos for persevering on a healthy path.
Good Luck and Good Health.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
By definition, a smith machine does not permit proper motion. Damned dangerous things.

They can be, if used improperly. This pretty much applies to most machines, really.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
Frankly, for almost all people who aren’t athletes/especially say over 55 - body weight and dumbbells should pretty much do it.

The people over at Starting Strength would disagree... vehemently

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
Barring outright stupidity, it’s hard to be injured by dumbbell clean and press, and it’s an excellent exercise.

They'd disagree with that, too. Clean and Presses, Snatches, and, to a lesser degree, Cleans are explosive movements that place great momentary stress on joints, connective tissue, and muscles. Same with Pendlay Rows.

This is as compared to Squats, Deadlifts, Presses, and a variety of other compound exercises.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I know we have had this debate before and many subscribe that cals in vs cals out is the only way.
...
If you really want to change your BMI then train your body to use fat as a primary fuel.

By "fat" I presume you mean "body fat?"

Unless you're operating at some degree of calorie deficit, that won't happen--regardless of protein/fat/carbs nutrition balance.

Fat Loss: A Simple Guide To Training and Diet

I would again encourage anybody who's interested in becoming more fit and learning how it all works to read The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40

Yes, it has "for Life After 40" in the title, but, the principles explained in the book apply to everybody: Young, old, male and female.

quote:

By "fat" I presume you mean "body fat?"

Unless you're operating at some degree of calorie deficit, that won't happen--regardless of protein/fat/carbs nutrition balance.

To answer your first question - I mean both dietary and body fat.

To the second we have already discussed that and we are somewhat (but not completely) in agreement.

Again this is a complicated and unique process not an absolute rule of cals-in vs cals-out.
I will leave it at that.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

I reworked the diet a bit

How did you change it?

I added 6 ounces of protein (beef or chicken) per day. That seems to have helped immeasurably on my recovery.

The exercise change has a day totally off working out and a day of low level exercise. The five full workout days has me doing HITT on the bike (I discovered several pre-programmed routines) for 30 to 45 minutes, then weights (machine or dumbbell), and resistance bands. Each day has a different focus for the weights (core, legs, and upper body strength, endurance, and speed).

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

I added 6 ounces of protein (beef or chicken) per day.
That seems to have helped immeasurably on my recovery.

One thing I added was to take a cup of bone broth (beef or chicken) - I add a few spices (like an Italian blend, S+P) and then add an egg.
Makes a nice high protein boost in the form of a tasty egg drop soup of sorts.
Also 5 gms of Creatine Monohydrate in water per day is great for recovery.
I also will supplement with Whey Protein on low protein days.

A) If you want to be a master class strength athlete, then yes, you’d need to do the similar work as any other athlete - and I’d suggest ignoring any mass market stuff, and go find someone with a history of producing winners in the master division/at least has a competition history as a younger man - especially if you don’t have an athletic history to pull experience from.

No one, outside of competition, knows what they are doing.

If any of y’all want, I can happily refer some friends who are professional bodybuilders in their 40s/work with training master division people on getting in shape.

The only dangerous thing in clean is receiving in the correct position. Same with snatch, but the receiving seems to be more instinctual.

Dumbbells greatly simplify that/do not have the wrists in as vulnerable a position - admittedly, I never did anything near a max with a dumbbell.

I know one handed snatch would get my hands faster than any other exercise, but that can get dangerous, if it goes wrong.

Dumbbells are easier to bail on, but I do suppose there’s a larger chance of injury if you have to bail “weird”. There’s no whip to them. They are much easier to control and time.

Log press might be the best of both, outside of a complete eff up when you beat the weight to the ground.

These days, my goals is just to get more comfortable with one legged body weight squats/get back to hand balance/hand stand work/maybe do weighted pull ups and dips, though the hand balance work pretty well replaces the dips.

Trap bar deadlifts/dumbbell deadlifts are probably the safest low body exercise/way to just add overall power.

Strong people are harder to kill and more useful in general. That's paraphrasing Mark Rippetoe of Starting Strength. The point is: keep up the cardio for your heart, but the focus of your weights should be on compound lifts....bench, squats, deadlifts and press (aka - standing overhead press). Go to startingstrength.com and peruse.

It works. Granted, I've been doing this for 20 years at this point, but at (nearly) 50 (I'll be 49 in a couple months) my press is 255, bench is 440, squat is 655, and deads are at 715. Body weight is 230.

Look for a Starting Strength gym in your area, if available. If not, just follow the program. My 73yo mother is pulling close to 1.5x her body weight on deads, but more importantly her quality of life and ability to remain independent and handle her day-to-day life are vastly improved. She lifts her 50# bags of duck food without assistance at Walmart, etc.

The point is that this system works if you follow it. 3x per week, compound lifts, cardio supplementation for heart health. As for the diet, you'll probably need to tweak your protein intake, but no need to go nuts like competition folks do. Check it out and see what you think. It isn't for everyone, but if it "clicks" with you, it's a life-changer.